


Fourth of July

by ChettaDrabbles (KOranges)



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fireworks, Fourth of July, M/M, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 14:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11403888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KOranges/pseuds/ChettaDrabbles
Summary: Honestly, Steve hadn't thought going to the bathroom was going to be all that exciting.





	Fourth of July

**Author's Note:**

> Each of these drabbles are inspired by a prompt I received during an eight month long writing challenge. I'll only be sharing my favorites but every Tuesday & Thursday and I'll post a new one.
> 
> Prompt: "I thought we talked about this."

Steve was not hiding in the bathroom. He was taking his time while using the bathroom. There was a difference. That he’d timed it to take place during the fireworks show was pure coincidence. Nobody could prove otherwise. There hadn’t been a panic attack or anything that would make his friends think he wasn’t perfectly OK. He’d left when his anxiety got too much. He was just waiting for it to lessen a little bit. The Fourth of July party had just been so much more than he thought it would be. Too many people in a crowded space. Too many noises. Too many everything. It was disgusting and smelled in there, yes, but Steve felt safer in his stall. Protected. Or at least he thought he was. 

He barely had time to react to the frantic shouting and general clamor to cover himself before there was a bang and a furry canine face wiggled its way underneath the bathroom stall door. He moved to cover himself despite the fact that he honestly had absolutely zero reason to be shy in front of what appeared to be a yellow lab. That didn’t stop him from blushing. 

“Hi, there,” Steve greeted quietly. People were laughing outside his stall. He tensed slightly. 

“Patton,” A voice shouted into the room. Female. Steve couldn’t help laughing with the other people in the bathroom.

The dog responded by wiggling even further underneath the stall door. 

“Patton, get your butt out here,” The voice continued to call, “Patton, come.” 

Patton, Steve was assuming this was the dog, did not. He was officially further inside the stall than he was outside of it. The stall was small enough as it was, which left very little room for Steve once Patton wiggled a little further in. As the woman continued to call him, Steve reached down and scratched between Patton’s ears. 

“Good boy,” Steve whispered. He felt himself relax a little bit and the fingers of panic receded. 

Patton forced himself the rest of the way into the stall excitedly. The crowd laughed some more. 

“Is anyone in there?” Someone asked.

“Yeah,” Steve tensed and then- flustered- fumbled for what to say, “Just- um- I’m just. It’s not-” He cleared his throat awkwardly and then finally forced himself to speak, even if it came out strangled. “Just one minute.” 

The people laughed. Steve could see where it was funny but he tensed and flinched away. Patton seemed to sense Steve’s anxiety and responded by trying to comfort him. Except that meant trying to clamber onto Steve’s lap. Which was an issue. 

“Patton, no,” Steve squeaked and pushed him away quickly. More laughter. 

There was more commotion outside the bathroom and then someone else came in. Probably the owner. He knocked on the stall door twice, which made Steve smile even if he was absolutely mortified. Patton just sat in front of Steve, staring at him and wagging his tail excitedly. Steve scratched the dog’s head absently. 

“Hi?” Steve said finally when whoever knocked didn’t say anything. 

“Can I, um-” they paused awkwardly and laughed- “Can I have my dog back?” 

Because they sounded amused, Steve shrugged. “I dunno. I think he likes me more now.” 

“I’m tempted to let you keep him.” Patton didn’t seem bothered by this idea. His tail thumped excitedly against the floor and he tried to scoot closer to Steve. There wasn’t honestly much closer he could get. His nose was practically touching Steve’s knees. 

“I don’t think the VA Shelter allows dogs.” Steve said sadly. 

“Probably not.” He admitted. 

Patton sniffed and then turned to face the door. He must have smelled his owner. Who knew how over the stench of the bathroom itself. “I, um, I think if you call him now he’ll come.” 

“Patton, come,” 

Patton wiggled underneath the door and Steve was finally alone in his stall as God intended. 

“Come find me outside,” Patton’s owner called over to him. Steve nodded and the belatedly remembered that he was technically behind a door and nobody could see him, “I’ll be the one with the overexcited, misbehaving yellow lab.” 

Leaving the stall was a somewhat daunting process. He waited a minute so people would be gone. But it was still crowded. Steve tried not to think about the number of people in the bathroom as he washed his hands. There were definitely some snickers as he did so. Steve figured he’d never find Patton or his owner in the crush of people outside. So when he finally left he barely looked. But then there was a series of barks and Steve caught sight of a glint of yellow fur as Patton ran towards him. 

And then slammed face first into Steve’s legs. 

Steve went tumbling to the ground in a heap, laughing. Patton then leapt on top of him and started licked his face excitedly. Steve was laughing so hard he couldn’t find the strength to push Patton off of him. It was several minutes before someone reached over and lifted Patton off of him. Steve climbed to feet while Patton’s owner held him back. 

“Come on, man,” His owner said desperately as he tried to hold Patton back, “I thought we talked about this.” 

“He’s not so bad,” Steve decided. His owner laughed. 

Steve grinned. Patton’s tongue was hanging out and his tail was wagging so fast it was practically a blur. It was adorable. And his owner was almost as bad. He looked up at Steve and Steve felt himself blush from head to toe. Patton’s owner was smiling at him and had on this loose fitting tank top and the combination was probably going to be Steve’s cause of death. For a moment he just froze. The fireworks started again and Steve didn’t even flinch. He took a knee in front of the lab and petted him. Patton lunged and started licking Steve’s face again. 

“He’s a little shit,” he countered. 

“Oh, that too. Definitely.” Steve nodded. 

“He’s practically a menace. I think my neighbor’s going to take out a restraining order.” 

“Maybe try training classes?” Steve suggested. 

“He’s failed three.” The owner deadpanned. “He was supposed to be a service dog. Help veterans with PTSD. I was supposed to train him.” 

Steve snorted. “How’s that going?” 

“I’ve had him three years now.” The owner said as an explanation. Steve laughed. 

Steve wished he had the easy demeanor of Patton’s owner. He had long hair tied back in some kind of bun/ponytail thing that was probably meant to be one or the other but now was just a mess. His tank was an American flag with the words ‘GUNS OUT FOR FREEDOM’ written across it. While Steve didn’t think it was meant to start a debate about gun control, he still had to force himself not to start it. 

Steve’s own outfit was just a red shirt and blue jeans. It was the closest he’d been able to put together to a red white and blue outfit. His wardrobe was limited. He did have a baseball cap on the had USA emblazoned on it, but it failed to have the same punch as what the other man had on. He realized he was staring and forced himself to offer a hand. 

“I’m Steve, by the way.” He introduced himself. It took Patton’s owner a second to respond. 

“Bucky.” He didn’t take Steve’s hand and Steve let it drop awkwardly when he noticed why. Bucky’s entire other arm was an advanced prosthetic. Steve had missed that. He blushed and looked away, timing it was a firework display so he could pretend to just be entertained by the view. 

“I was a veteran, too.” Bucky told him finally. “If you’re wondering what happened.” 

Steve didn’t know how to respond so he fell back on routine. “Where’d you serve?” 

“Does it matter?” Bucky snorted. Steve blushed. 

“I guess not.” 

“I was all over the place for a while. I spent more time deployed than not while I was in the Army.” Bucky admitted. “I enlisted at 18. Just got out about three years ago thanks to a medical discharge. That’s 7 years in. I know you said you’re at the shelter right now. Adjusting to civilian life is tough. I was there too. And I just wanted to say that it gets better. You’ll get back on your feet eventually. You’re allowed to take time to adjust.” 

Steve flushed. “I didn’t mean… I don’t… I just.” 

“Breathe” Bucky laughed at him. 

“I just volunteer there. I mean I live there but it’s part of my job. I’m a counselor. They hired me when I was discharged.” Steve rambled while Bucky laughed. “I had a degree in social work.” 

“You could have said that before I gave you my whole speech.” Bucky chided. Steve shrugged. 

“It was a good speech.” 

“I give good speech.” Bucky nodded thoughtfully, making Steve laugh. Patton nudged Steve. 

“You know, some of the guys at the center would probably love to meet Patton.” Steve said as Patton flipped onto his back so he could get belly rubs. Bucky immediately leaned down to give him some. Steve tried not to ogle the view it gave him of Bucky’s abs. 

“He’d probably burn the whole place to the ground.” Bucky told him with a wince. 

“Probably.” Steve admitted with a laugh. He waited a beat. “Want to bring him by anyway?” 

Bucky raised an eyebrow but grinned. “This feels like a ploy to see me again.” 

“Technically, I only asked to see the dog.” Steve pointed out. 

“Hey.” Bucky shouted, offended. Steve smiled at him. 

“But if you wanted to come along.” Steve shrugged with fake nonchalance. “It would be nice to see you again sometime too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday, (Captain) America!
> 
> Sorry for the late post- I was off work and real life doesn't like me to use the computer, apparently.  
> Please check out my other fics! There's getting to be quite a few of them up here. And thank you to the few I've seen like and/or comment on more than one. I really appreciate you guys.


End file.
